


If the World Was Ending

by bmcgeeparker



Category: Zoey 101
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:00:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22826806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bmcgeeparker/pseuds/bmcgeeparker
Summary: A major earthquake has left the city of Los Angeles and the rest of the country in shock. Chase and Zoey haven't spoken in a few months, so when they can't get in touch with each other, they begin to worry that something terrible has happened. Will they be able to find each other and sort out what happened to their once strong relationship?
Relationships: Michael Barret/Lisa Perkins, Quinn Pensky/Logan Reese, Zoey Brooks/Chase Matthews
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all. This is the first time I've ever written a second story for the same category. It has been bouncing around my skull for a while and it took me weeks to write. It will also be my first multi-chapter story. I was going to make this a one-shot, which is usually what I do, but it quickly grew in length, so I decided to break it up into chapters. Please review and let me know what you think! I really appreciate it!
> 
> I did a lot of research for this story, some of which didn't end up included in the dialogue or exposition. Here's some of that research: The gang graduated from PCA in 2009 and Chase and Zoey decided to go to USC together. Chase was a Cinematic Arts major, with dreams to become a screenwriter. Zoey was a Design major and an Entrepreneurship minor so that she could own her own boutique that sold her clothing designs. The story is set in LA a few years after Chase and Zoey graduated from USC. (I've never been to LA and don't know much at all about the city, so I tried to keep descriptions vague to avoid mistakes due to lack of knowledge. Hopefully it doesn't sound terrible because I don't know what I'm talking about. Haha.) This story also assumes that "What Did Zoey Say?" didn't happen, though I'm using what Zoey said as canon.
> 
> Inspiration: If the World Was Ending by JP Saxe and Julia Michaels. The story evolved on its own, but the initial idea for it came from this song. Go listen to it. It's a great song!

If the World Was Ending

_A Zoey 101 Fan Fiction_

**_Chase POV_ **

The entire city of Los Angeles was in panic mode. One of the largest earthquakes to hit the west coast in more than 50 years had just shaken the entire state and beyond. Roads were split open all over the city. Buildings had collapsed, many with an unknown number of people inside. Vehicles were abandoned, either crushed by debris or crashed into other vehicles. All entrances and exits to the city had been barricaded: no one in or out, for the foreseeable future.

Several cell towers were damaged, so a lot of people were struggling to get in touch with loved ones. Much of the city was without power because the lines and sub stations were damaged. Those of us who had power or cell service were making and receiving calls as fast as we could.

My phone rang in my back pocket and I lunged for it as quickly as I could. The name on the screen was not the name I hoped it would be, but I answered anyway.

"Michael, I was just about to call yo-"

"Chase! Oh, dude! I'm glad to hear your voice! I just saw the story on the news and I was worried your building might have collapsed or something."

Michael sounded so relieved. I wasn't surprised. We've been best friends since we met at PCA, all those years ago, so we're really more like brothers. And Michael's always been pretty sensitive, even though he would never want anyone to know that.

"Nah, man. My building is mostly okay. I heard the rumbling of the other buildings and felt the shaking, but it doesn't seem to be as damaged as some of these others. I'm out walking around the neighborhood to look around. What about you, dude? Are you and Lisa safe?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine. We're visiting my family in Atlanta for the week. But that might be extended a little while longer now."

"Oh, right! I forgot that was this week. Work has been so hectic, trying to finish scripts for the second half of the season. I'm glad you and Lisa and the kids aren't here though. Want me to go check on your house for you before you get back?"

Michael and Lisa live in a quiet little suburb outside the city limits of LA, but still close enough that we can get together pretty often. After high school, Lisa pursued a singing career and did quite well for herself for several years before they got married, and Michael eventually became a choreographer and music producer. Once they had kids, though, they decided to move out of the city center and raise them somewhere a little calmer. Sometimes if Michael has an early morning call time or a really late night, he stays with me, since it's much closer, and it's almost like the old days back at PCA. So making my way out to check on their house in a day or two wouldn't have been that big of a deal.

"Don't worry about that," Michael said. "Our neighbor called Lisa a couple minutes ago and said the neighborhood made it out relatively unscathed. We'll have to see when we get back what the inside and the foundation looks like, but it seems to be fine from the outside."

"That's good to hear." I sighed a little to myself. One less thing to worry about. "I guess I need to try calling some of the others now. Lola was supposed to be filming a new movie in New York this month, but you never know if she may have wrapped a little early and came back sooner than planned. And I think Logan and Quinn took the baby to Seattle, but I don't remember when they were planning to be back either." I had kept myself so busy at work the last few months that I could barely keep track of the day of the week, let alone all my friends' schedules.

"Lola sent me a picture from Times Square last night. Said she was being a tourist for the evening. So she should still be in New York. And Lisa PearChatted with Quinn and the baby this morning, while Logan complained about the rain in Seattle making his hair frizz up. They won't be home for a while either."

I smiled at the idea of Lola being a tourist. She's been to New York dozens of times, but she always comes back complaining that she didn't get to see much, other than her hotel and the set. And the thought of pretty-boy Logan with frizzy hair, instead of the perfectly gelled coif he usually sports, made me chuckle out loud for a second.

Then I thought about the one person neither of us had mentioned yet.

"So that just leaves…" I trailed off into silence.

"Zoey," Michael said. "I haven't talked to her in a couple weeks. Last time she called, she said they were working on a really big new collection for the boutique, so she would probably be MIA for a while. Lisa has tried to get her to come to dinner at our house a couple times, just to give Zoey a change of pace for a couple hours, but she keeps saying she can't leave the boutique until the collection is finished."

I didn't need to admit to Michael that it had been well over a couple weeks since I'd spoken to Zoey. In fact, it had been more than a couple months. Zoey and I hadn't spoken to each other in four months, and it had been over six months since the last time I saw her. And Michael knew all the details surrounding the situation.

"Right. Well, if you hear anything from her, can you let me know?" I asked somewhat hesitantly.

"Yeah, man, sure thing. You do the same."

We said our goodbyes quickly after that and I hastily hit the end call button on my phone so I could pull up my contacts. The one I was searching for wasn't hard to find. We may not have spoken in four months, but I still hadn't removed her from my favorites list.

I selected her name and lifted the phone to my ear, listening for the ring. It didn't come, however, because I immediately got an automated message that the call could not be completed, and then silence. The panic rose in my chest.

Was Zoey okay?!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 2! Hope you enjoy. If you like it, please leave a review. If you don't like it, please leave a review. If you have any thoughts at all, please leave a review. :)

**_Zoey POV_ **

I angrily shoved my phone back into my pocket after a fifth attempt at making a call ended in a message from a robotic female voice followed by silence. My nearest cell towers must have taken some damage from the earthquake, because I always had service all over the city. And since I often used my personal cell phone for business purposes at the boutique, it was important that I had service there as well.

Of all days for a major earthquake to hit LA, that was not a good day for me. I arrived at the boutique early that morning because we were _so close_ to finishing the new collection and I was getting anxious to be done. Before any of my staff were able to join me for the day, I heard a far off rumbling and people yelling in the street. Then I felt it. I snatched up my phone from the table beside my sewing machine and ran to the safest place in the building to wait it out.

A few minutes later, it got quiet for a moment and the dust started to settle. I looked around me and searched for signs of damage and destruction. The back room that I was in seemed to be fine, but it was basically just storage, so I began making my way out to the front of the store. A few mannequins had fallen over and a couple mirrors fell off their shelves, but for the most part, everything else seemed to be safe from damages.

I could hear the voices of some of the neighboring store owners outside, so I walked out to meet them. There weren't that many shops in the area, but there were more than a few of us, so when something like this happens, we have a lot to talk about. After discussing what had just happened, I realized we were all pretty lucky. Most of the buildings appeared to have minimal damage. Some of the building facades had a crack or two, which would be a major repair, but they were all still standing and we hadn't found any building occupants who had been injured. There may have been further damage that I couldn't see, but just looking around, I would have said we all got pretty lucky with the state of our buildings.

We all went our separate ways after that to make various phone calls, to loved ones or to insurance companies. I began trying to call my parents and Dustin, as well as my staff and some of my PCA friends. None of the calls would go through, so I tried from the landline inside the boutique.

"Hey, Mom. It's me," I began when I got her voicemail. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm fine. You've probably seen the news about the earthquake and I don't want you to worry. I was here at the shop when it happened and I was alone, but I'm okay. The shop doesn't seem to have much damage, so I'm going to walk back to my apartment and see how things are over there. I don't have cell service right now so it may be hard to get in touch with me for a little while. Please relay the message to Dad and tell him that I love him. I love you too! I'll try to call again in a day or two. Love y'all. Bye!"

I hit the end button quickly and dialed Dustin's number from memory. He answered on the second ring and sounded very anxious.

"Zoey?! Is that you?!"

"Yes, Dustin," I sighed out. "It's me. I'm fine. Don't freak out."

"Easy for you to say! You're not watching the news from the East coast while almost everyone you care about the most is on the West coast after a major earthquake," he said quickly. "Have you called Mom and Dad?"

"I just called Mom, but had to leave a voicemail, so I asked her to let Dad know. If you talk to him first, you can tell him."

"Ok. As long as they know you're alright. You know how they are."

"You say that like you're not acting exactly the same way right now," I laughed for the first time that day.

"Hey! I was worried about my big sister, that's all!"

"I know. But I'm okay. You can stop pacing and take a breath." I smiled to myself when I heard what sounded like Dustin suddenly running into his desk.

"Ok, ok. I'm calm. I guess I better let you go. I'm sure there's some cleaning up to do and probably more phone calls to make."

"Yeah, I gotta call my staff and make sure they're not worrying about coming to work. And I have to go check on my apartment too. But I'll try to call you in the next couple days. It's been too long since we've had a good, long catch up call."

I could hear the smile in Dustin's voice. "Sounds like a plan! Be careful out there and keep me updated if you can. Love you, Zo!"

"I love you, too, Dustin! Bye."

Being so far away from my baby brother still hasn't gotten any easier, even though he's been studying at MIT for years, but we do our best to talk as often as we can. I've learned not to mother him as much as I used to, but every now and then, the tables turn and he gets to worry about me.

After my call to Dustin, I quickly called my staff and made sure they all knew that the shop was okay, but that they didn't need to worry about work for a couple days at least. When I got off the phone with the last of them, I turned off the lights in the shop and locked the front door, before making my way to my apartment.

I didn't live that far from the shop, about three quarters of a mile, so I almost always walked to work. Despite the shock of the earthquake, it was still a beautiful day. The sun was out, but it wasn't sweltering, and not a cloud in sight. One of the things I loved most about California was how infrequently it rained. Not at all like Louisiana.

The walk took me less than 15 minutes, but it gave me some time to look around at what the earthquake had done. Most buildings looked like they had sustained very little damage. The traffic lights were all out, so intersections were a bit hectic. I was not the only person out walking around, as many people were traveling between buildings to check on neighbors. But based on the snippets of conversations I was catching as I passed by, this area had been lucky in that there was little damage, unlike the majority of the rest of the city. I picked up my pace to get home quicker and start checking on my friends.

When I opened the door to my apartment, I found a similar scene to what had been at my boutique. The lights came on when I flipped the switch by the door, so I still had electricity, but I noticed my bookcase had tipped over, which meant there were several books on the floor, surrounded by the shattered glass of my picture frames. Thankfully, I didn't really keep many "knick knacks" around the apartment and most of my photos were in albums, so the only glass was from the three frames on the bookcase. Those frames contained photos of our group of six at our PCA graduation, Michael and Lisa's wedding, and in the hospital for the birth of Logan and Quinn's first child.

I picked the frames up and let the shards of glass hit the floor as I walked through the rest of my apartment. I would have to buy new frames, but I was okay with that. These were some of my favorite photos ever taken, which is why they got to live on my bookcase, rather than in an album somewhere. These were photos I _wanted_ to look at often, because it made me happy to see how happy we all were on those amazing, special occasions, and we were always so happy to be together.

Walking past my guest bathroom, I flipped the light switch and stuck my head in to assess the damage quickly. The only thing out of place in the small bathroom was the box of tissues that had fallen off the countertop, so I turned the light off without picking it up and continued to my bedroom down the hall.

Upon entering my bedroom, I noticed my current bedtime read on the floor beside the bed and my hairbrush and a few other items that had fallen off my dresser. Fortunately, my dresser hadn't met the same fate as my bookcase. My closet doors had been shaken open to reveal the mess I had thrown in there the night before because I was just too tired to deal with it properly after work. Setting the now-glassless frames down on the table when I bent down to pick up my book, I noticed something I hadn't yet seen.

An old PCA coffee mug that I never used myself, but I recognized quite well was laying on it's side just under the side of the bed where I slept. The handle was now missing, so I figured it had fallen off the table on the other side of the bed during the earthquake and rolled to my side after the handle broke off in the fall. I hadn't thought about that mug in months, even though it sat on that table untouched long after its owner last used it. I tried not to think about the owner of said mug, but the truth was, I thought about him constantly, if I didn't keep myself busy.

He was easier to avoid thinking about when I was wrapped up in my designs at my boutique. That day, however, he had been on my mind almost constantly since the rumbling stopped. I just hadn't let myself dwell on that long enough yet.

After checking on the rest of the apartment, it was time to start making more phone calls. One of the good things about having a PearPhone is that, even if the cell towers are out, you can still make calls and such over WiFi, and judging by the dings I kept hearing from my pocket, my WiFi was still working just fine.

The first call on my list was to Quinn and Logan, who were still in Seattle. Quinn picked up the PearChat call almost immediately.

"Zoey!" She practically shouted when she saw me. Thankfully the baby wasn't trying to sleep in the background. "We've been calling everyone we could think of, but you were the only one who hadn't answered yet! Are you okay?"

"Sorry, Quinn. I'm fine." I spun around so she could see some of the apartment around me. "Got a little bit of a mess, but not too much damage. My boutique is about the same. This area got really lucky."

"That's good. It's good to see that you're safe. We've been worried all day."

"Have you talked to any of the others?" I asked, concern coloring my voice.

"I called Lisa this morning so she could PearChat with the baby. She and Michael are in Georgia with the kids to see his family, so they're safe. I got a text from Lola last night, but haven't actually talked to her today." Quinn seemed to hesitate a moment. "And I haven't heard from Chase," she finished.

"Oh. Ok." That didn't mean that something had happened to him. Just that Quinn hadn't talked to him. He's probably fine. "Ok. Well I guess I'll try to get in touch with Lola next and go from there. I just wanted to make sure that the Reese family was okay. It's good to see your face, Quinn."

"You too, Zoey. We'll make plans when we all get back to LA. You need a night away from your boutique, and we miss you!" She smiled a sort of sad smile. I could hear it in her voice, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Sounds great! Tell Logan I said hi, and give the baby a kiss from Aunt Zo. Talk again soon, okay?" I was getting anxious to move on to my next call, even though I really did miss Quinn.

"I'll hold you to that! Love you, Zoey! Bye!"

"Love you, too," I said quickly, before the call ended.

I tried to call Lola right away, but it went to voicemail after a few rings. Before I could think of what to say, my phone made a sound indicating that I had received a text. It was from Lola.

"About to go into an audition, then heading back to set to get ready for a night shoot. Still in New York for a week or so. Are you safe?!"

Typical, dramatic Lola. But I loved her for it. So I typed out a reply quickly.

"I'm safe. Minimal damage to apartment and boutique. Not much cell service. Just wanted you to know I was okay, and find out if you were. Break a leg, and we'll talk later! Love you!"

Almost immediately, she responded with a thumbs up and a kissy face. I just chuckled a little as I put my phone back into my pocket. Turning back to the mess in my apartment, I decided to see if I could catch the news while I picked up a little. So I grabbed the remote from where it had fallen to the floor and switched the channel to the news.

After watching and listening for a few minutes while I righted my bookcase and began gathering books off the floor, I was beginning to feel very unsettled. The amount of destruction across the city and the surrounding areas was staggering. This wasn't the first earthquake I had experienced since moving to California, but it was certainly the most catastrophic. When the news reporter mentioned how many dead had been found, and how many people were still unaccounted for, possibly trapped in collapsed buildings, I suddenly felt like I couldn't catch my breath.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I had snatched up my keys from the kitchen counter and run out the door. I just needed to get out of my apartment. I needed to get away from the news. I could have just turned the tv off, but it didn't feel like enough. I needed air and some time not trapped inside the confines of my four walls.

Walking around the neighborhood for a little while, I lost all sense of time. I didn't even know what time it had been when I left my apartment. Once or twice, I thought I felt my phone begin to vibrate in my pocket, but when I pulled it out to check, there was only a black screen. Eventually, my mind brought me back to the one person I still had no news of, and I couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had come over me. I finally caved and decided to try calling him, only to be reminded that I didn't have any service without WiFi. As I put my phone back into my pocket, resigned to the fact that I couldn't get in touch with Chase or anyone else for the moment, I looked around to see that my feet had already started taking me to his apartment building.

I paused on the sidewalk, trying to decide if I should continue on the familiar path, or turn around to go home and put the thought from my mind. I hadn't seen those green eyes and that wild head of hair in more than six months, but I had this horrible pit in my stomach that refused to ease up. Not that it made that big of a difference, but I had to know. So, decision made, I picked my head up and resumed walking towards the familiar apartment I hadn't seen in more than half a year.

Soon, I was walking through a neighborhood I had been in and around many, many times before. I even saw a couple of faces I recognized. Reaching the steps of the building, one of those faces I recognized was leaving the building and let me in before the door closed. I gave her a quick smile as thanks and started for the stairs. Chase's apartment was on the fifth floor and the building didn't have an elevator.

When I got to the top of the stairs, I still had to cross the entire hall, as Chase's apartment was the last one on the right. My heart started beating so fast, I thought it would beat right out of my chest. I was having trouble breathing as I raised my knuckles to knock on the door. I waited a minute or two and knocked again. Still no answer. I knocked a third time, and called his name. After a fourth knock and another unanswered shout, I turned around, feeling desperate. That was when I saw Chase's neighbor poking his head out of his own apartment.

"If you're looking for the kid with the bushy hair, I haven't seen him since this morning before the earthquake."

After nonchalantly dropping that bit of information, he disappeared back into his apartment. He hadn't seen Chase since before the earthquake?! This building fared about as well as mine did, so there wasn't really any reason Chase shouldn't be home.

Where was he? Where had he been while the earthquake rumbled through the city? Was he okay?! Or was he hurt somewhere?!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 3! Please leave a review and let me know what you think.
> 
> Also, in this story, Moody's Point is an actual, widely popular tv show. Not the parody sketch show it was in real life. Haha.

**_Chase POV_ **

After several failed attempts to call Zoey, I dropped my phone into my pocket and started wandering through the neighborhoods. Our apartments weren't that far from each other, only a few miles, so I knew most of the area well enough to not get lost. Remembering what Michael had said about Zoey having a big collection to work on, I figured she probably would have been at her boutique early that morning, so I decided to start looking for her there.

The last time we saw each other, she was working on another big collection. Zoey was stressed because she had so much to work on and one of her best seamstresses had been put on bedrest until she delivered her baby, so the boutique was shorthanded at one of the worst times. The pressure that Zoey always puts on herself more than anyone else was feeling like a little too much at that time and I didn't handle the situation the way I should have.

_"Zo, can you please just stop for a minute and talk to me? Maybe look at me for a change?"_

_I hadn't meant to shout at her, but that's just the way it came out._

_"I know you're stressed right now. I get it. I'm under a lot of pressure at work, too. But that doesn't mean—"_

_She suddenly looked up at me for the first time since I arrived at her boutique to surprise her, and the look she gave me stopped me dead in my tracks._

_"You think you're under a lot of pressure?! Chase Matthews, how can you even compare your job on a late night sketch comedy show to me designing and producing the largest collection of my career for my own boutique?!"_

_That stung a little, but I knew it was just the stress talking. Deep down, I knew she didn't mean it to sound quite as harsh as it did. But that's not how I reacted in that moment._

_"Yes, Zoey. It's a huge thing that you've managed to open up your own shop and you're doing well, and we are all incredibly proud of you. But you make it sound like my job doesn't mean anything. Is that what you're trying to say? That because I'm a writer, I must sit around and do nothing all day. So I couldn't possibly be anywhere near as stressed as you are!"_

_I paused to take a breath, but I didn't give her time to respond before I continued my tirade. "Well you know what? My job is much more stressful than I ever make it out to be. And for your information, it's about to get even more stressful! I hadn't told you yet because I was waiting until you weren't quite as stressed so you could be excited with me, but I went on an interview last Wednesday. I got the call Monday that I got the job. In about a week, I start my new job as an Executive Story Editor for_ Moody's Point _. I had hoped we could go out to celebrate in the next day or two, maybe even get the gang together. But since my job isn't as important as yours, I guess I'll just go out and celebrate by myself."_

_I turned around and began walking out the door of Zoey's boutique before she could even fully process what I said. There was a small bar just a couple blocks from my apartment building, so I stopped in there for a few drinks on my way home that night. Zoey called a handful of times while I was sitting alone at the bar, but I just watched my phone ring. A little after midnight, I paid my tab and walked the couple blocks home._

_The next morning, I was startled awake by a banging on my door. I dragged myself off the couch I had passed out on and shuffled over to the door. It was Zoey, and she was holding a coffee and a muffin from our favorite cafe._

_"Can we talk?" Her eyes said more than her lips did, so I just stood aside and let her into my apartment without saying anything._

_"Look, I—," she began, but I quickly cut her off with a wave of my hand._

_"Zo, you don't have to say it. I'm sorry for yelling and storming off last night, and I can tell from the look in your eyes that you're sorry too. There's obviously been a lot of stress for both of us lately and a lot of tension that finally just exploded. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I didn't mean what I said and I'm sorry."_

_"That's part of the reason I came by, actually," she stated with just a hint of hesitation. "I was thinking, after you left last night and wouldn't return my calls…maybe we could…take a few days, kind of like…a break, just to think and regroup. Gather our thoughts together and catch our breath… I could have a little more time to finish up this crazy collection, and you could have a few days to settle into your new job. Just temporary… And we could revisit the subject in a week or so, see how things are going for each of us and see how we feel."_

_She paused for a breath and I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it without a word. I opened it again, and she cut me off._

_"This is not me asking you to break up. Please don't think that. It's just… You said it yourself, there's been a lot of tension. And we just haven't felt like 'us' lately. I just think we both need to take a step back for a moment to think about how we really feel and what we really want. And then we can come back and have a better conversation about it after we've had time to collect our thoughts."_

_She stood there, wringing her hands, while I tried to think of something to say. I didn't want to fight with her, but I did want to fight for us. Instead, what came out was something that didn't even sound like me, because it sounded like defeat._

_"Ok."_

_"What?" Her head snapped up and she looked at me with those big brown eyes I've always been in love with, as if she was surprised by my answer. Maybe she had expected an argument._

_"I said ok. If that's really what you want right now, then ok. You've obviously put a lot of thought into this, so who am I to argue with you? You know I love you, and I hope you know I just want what you want. So if this is something you want to do, then we'll do it." I shrugged and put my hands in my pockets. What else could I do?_

_"Thank you, Chase." She looked at the floor for a moment, and then took a step toward me. "Ok, I better get to the shop. But I'll talk to you a little later, okay? Maybe tonight?" When she leaned over to kiss my cheek, she whispered, "I still love you." And then she walked out the door. She said it wasn't a break up, but that's definitely what it felt like._

She did call me that night, but the conversation was pretty short. There seemed to be a sense of relief in her voice, although I could tell she wasn't really feeling any better than me. Over the next three or four weeks, we talked a couple times for about an hour, but most of our conversations were a lot like that first night. Some days, it almost felt like before, when we were young, best friends in love; other days, we were both a little distant and the conversations were shallow. And that night in her boutique wasn't the last argument we had. After a couple months or so, we had both gotten so busy and our conversations had become so strained that they just kind of died out. I couldn't tell you which of us was responsible for the end of our communication. It was probably a little bit of both of us, really.

Walking down the block that her boutique was on, I looked around for signs of the earthquake. There were more people around than usual, but that was to be expected, and I could see that some of the buildings had large cracks in the walls. But overall, the neighborhood had escaped about as well as my own had, based on looks alone.

I could tell that Zoey wasn't in her shop before I even got to the door. From several feet away, I could tell that there were no lights on inside, though I wasn't sure if the electricity was on. Regardless of the status of the electricity, Zoey always had the door propped open when she was in, unless she was working after hours. She felt like the shop seemed more welcoming to customers if the door was open.

Approaching the large windows, I peeked inside. It looked like there were a few mannequins laying on their side, and I thought I saw a little bit of glass in a couple places. But it was hard to see much with the sun behind me, trying to peer into a dark shop.

I turned around and tried to call her again. When I got the same automated message as before, my feet began walking toward Zoey's apartment of their own accord. I didn't even have to think about where I was going, because my subconscious took me there naturally.

When I got to her apartment building, I was able to walk right on in because her building wasn't coded like mine. I had tried to convince her to move to a safer building, or even to my building, on more than one occasion, but she wouldn't budge on the matter. She liked how close it was to the boutique.

Zoey's apartment was on the second floor, so I took the stairs two at a time and reached her door rather quickly. I knocked, and waited, then knocked again. I tried to call her cell while knocking a third time, but she still didn't answer. The panic in my chest was swelling again and it was getting difficult to breathe properly. I knocked one more time, hoping for a different outcome, but nothing changed.

I turned to leave, but before I took the first step, I heard something from inside the apartment. I couldn't hear before because I was banging on the door and shouting, but now that I was quiet, I noticed what sounded like a news report on the tv. Fumbling with my keys, I pulled out the spare key she had given me. I was always forgetting things at her apartment and it was just easier if I could get in anytime I needed to retrieve something.

After unlocking the door, I stepped inside cautiously. What if she was home, but hadn't answered because she was in the shower or something? I didn't want her to get angry with me for overreacting. The tv was on, and there were a few books on the floor in her living room. Everything else looked mostly in tact. Overall, the apartment looked almost exactly the same as I remembered it, even though it had been several months since I had been there.

I called out her name a couple times, but still got no answer. I listened a little harder for a moment. The shower didn't seem to be running, so she must have been out. Maybe she was out assessing the damage around the neighborhoods, or knowing Zoey, she may have already found a way to help clean up the damage or get food to those who had lost everything.

Pausing on my way out, the news story on the tv caught my attention momentarily. My ears picked up words like "catastrophe" and "death toll". My brain knew the damage was going to be extensive and wide spread. My heart wasn't prepared for how my life may have been affected by this disaster.

Then suddenly a thought struck me: what if Zoey hadn't been at home _or_ her boutique during the earthquake? We hadn't spoken in months. I had no idea where she could have been. What if she was somewhere else in the city altogether, maybe even trapped in one of those collapsed buildings? What if she was one of those unidentified individuals in the hospital, or worse, in the morgue?

I sprinted down the hall and ran down the stairs (without tripping over my feet, surprisingly) as fast as I could to get out to the street. My instinct was telling me I needed to go get my car and try to look for Zoey. I didn't know what good that would do, since I didn't know where to look next and none of my phone calls were going through. All I knew was that standing around doing nothing was not getting me anywhere. In fact, my anxiety was reaching an all time high.

Hitting the sidewalk outside her building, I all but ran the more than two miles to my apartment. Adrenaline just kept propelling me forward. When I reached my block, I realized that my car keys were still inside my apartment, so I sped up slightly until I reached the building. Once inside, I didn't have enough energy left after running that far to take four flights of stairs two at a time, so I climbed as quickly as my feet and my lungs would allow.

As I reached my floor, my heart plummeted to my feet. There, sitting on the floor beside my apartment door, with her knees pulled to her chest and her head in her hands, was Zoey. And she was crying.

I approached her slowly, hoping I wouldn't startle her. When I was about five feet away from her, I called her name softly.

"Zoey?"

Her head snapped up and she looked at me with bloodshot eyes. She looked like she had been crying for a while. But she was still beautiful. Zoey was always beautiful.

She got to her feet and wiped her eyes and cheeks with her hands.

"Chase. You're safe."

All this time, my feet had been pulling me closer and closer to her without my awareness. She looked at her feet and wiped her eyes again, and then she was in my arms. I don't even remember putting my arms around her or pulling her into my chest. The only thing I knew in that moment was that Zoey was safe and sound with my arms around her slight frame.

Thought I felt an almost overwhelming sense of relief, she tensed slightly as I held her to me. She pulled away quickly, and stood awkwardly in front of me with her hands at her sides. Her tears had stopped, but she sounded like she was still trying to catch her breath when she spoke again.

"I just came here to…make sure that you were okay. I guess I should—"

"Do you want to come inside? I can make us some coffee or some tea. Maybe just a glass of water. To help calm your nerves?" I wasn't quite ready to let her just walk away, and I hoped she'd be willing to talk.

With a small nod of her head and no emotion on her face, she said, "Tea would be good, if you've got some peppermint or lavender."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4! Hope you like it! Please let me know what you think!

**_Zoey POV_ **

Chase turned to unlock the door and let me in first, just as he had always done. I stepped in and sat at the breakfast bar, while Chase pulled out the tea kettle and a couple mugs for our tea. After setting the kettle on the stove, he kept his back to me while he hunted the tea I had requested. I decided I should say something before he turned around and I forgot what words were.

"What a day, huh?"

Seriously, Brooks? That's what you come up with? You haven't seen this man, your best friend and the only man you've ever truly loved, in months, and that's what you say at a time like this?

I tried again before he could say anything.

"I mean, that earthquake was pretty serious… I'm glad that you're okay. I…I was worried about you." And terrified that I had lost you forever.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he said. "I was worried about you, too. I even went by your boutique _and_ your apartment to look for you."

Right at that moment, the kettle began to whistle.

"Really? You didn't have to go running all over the place to find me… You could have called." It felt good to know that he had been concerned for my safety though.

He turned around with a mug in each hand, each with a thin string hanging over the side, indicating there was a tea bag steeping inside.

"Oh, I did. _Several_ times. None of them would go through though. Didn't even ring before I got that stupid robot message that the call could not be completed," he finished with a small shrug of his shoulders. I thought I even saw a tiny little smirk on his lips, that lopsided smile I've always loved so much.

"Right. I forgot I haven't been able to make or receive any calls or messages without WiFi. My cell tower must have taken some damage. Sorry." I don't know why I apologized. It's not like any of this was my fault. Well…

"It's not your fault there was a major catastrophic earthquake this morning that caused millions of dollars of damage and killed who knows how many people across the city of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. I'm just glad that you're safe." He took a sip of his tea between thoughts. "I had pretty much come to the conclusion that you were somewhere else in the city, maybe with someone else, though I had no idea where that might have been. I came back to get my car so I could go search for you." Another shrug. Another smirk. Another sip of tea.

I just stared at him, dumbfounded. What had I ever done to make him care so much about me? What had I done to deserve that?

"Where would I have been?" I asked slowly. "I'm always at home or the boutique," I stated bluntly with a small laugh.

"I know. But when you weren't at either of those places, my mind went wild, Zo. We haven't talked in months. Anything could have changed in your life that I wouldn't know about. You could have been at your new boyfriend's apartment across the city, for all I knew." He said it quickly, then looked down into his mug like he wished he hadn't said it at all.

"I don't have a new boyfriend. And you know as well as I do that if I did, you would have heard about it from Michael or Lola or one of the Reeses by now," I stated matter of factly. Maybe a little harshly.

"They might not have told me." Another shrug. "Plus, I haven't talked to any of them that much the last few months. Work has been really crazy. We just got picked up for another full season and the producers want the rest of the scripts for this season by the end of the month, so we can start on the next one. We've been working wild hours trying to finish all those scripts."

I used to love listening to him talk about his job. He's always been such a good writer, ever since I met him, and it made me happy to see him doing something he enjoyed so much and had wanted for years. But in that moment, something about the way he spoke, maybe something in his voice, just didn't sound the same.

"In a way," he continued, "it's been good that I've been so busy. Kinda helps me keep my mind off…things, ya know?"

Oh, yeah. I knew. That was part of the reason I had decided to do another special collection so soon after finishing the last one. Most designers only do one, maybe two major collections in a year's time. I finished one and began sketching the next one less than a month later. Keeping my hands busy helped keep my mind busy. And that was what I needed after Chase and I decided to take a break. Well…I decided to take a break, and Chase graciously agreed, as he always does.

"Yeah, I get it. Look, Chase, I'm sorry," I started, but he jumped in quickly.

"You don't have to apologize for anything. You didn't want 'us' anymore. That's okay. It hurt, yeah. Still does. But if that's what you wanted, then I accept it." He looked down at his feet with a heavy sigh.

"Wait, what? I didn't want 'us'? I never said that. All I said was—" He cut me off again, snapping his head back up to look at me.

"You were the one who wanted to take a break. You came here and asked me to take a break! It was your idea. I just figured you had changed your mind about our relationship and couldn't figure out how to tell me that you wanted to go back to being just friends."

Chase and I started dating in high school, after three years as best friends and a handful of international moves. We finished high school with our best friends at PCA and continued dating throughout college at USC and even after. Not once had I thought about going back to being "just friends."

"Chase, I asked to take a break. I did not ask to break up! We were both so busy with work and so much was changing all around us. You had already been working crazy hours, even before you got the job at _Moody's Point._ And I was crazy with all the work at the shop and the new collection. Then Logan and Quinn had the baby. Lola was running all over the country for different filming projects. And Michael and Lisa were busy doing the 'soccer mom' and 'daddy coach' thing with the kids."

I felt like I was rambling and making terrible excuses, but everything I had said was true.

"You and I had already started drifting, Chase. I was starting to feel like you were the one who had changed your mind about our relationship…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5! We're almost to the end! Please let me know what you think! :)

Chase POV

"Are you serious?" I all but shouted. I hadn't meant for it to come out quite so forcefully, but it matched the way I felt about what she'd said. "How could you even fathom that I had changed my mind? You know how I feel about you! Zo, I've been in love with you since the day we met. I thought we were past all this after the whole England ordeal."

Sat sat there, her head hanging while she played with her nearly empty mug of tea. I almost didn't hear her when she began to speak.

"Yes, Chase. I know how you felt… But this just hasn't felt the same for a while now. Practically since we graduated…"

Since we graduated? That was nearly four years ago! Why would she have kept this bottled up for so long, instead of talking to me about it? We've always told each other everything.

"You've felt this way for almost four years? Why is this the first time I hear anything about it?"

"Because, Chase, we've both been so wrapped up in what we were doing after graduation." She stood up from the bar and started pacing, an old habit of hers that only returned when she was really worked up. "I jumped straight into opening the boutique and you started your first writing job practically before your cap hit the ground. We had been so comfortable with 'us' all through college that I just assumed we'd find our groove in the world, together, soon enough. Just like we've always done."

Thinking about it as she said it, I could see what she was referring to. It was one of those pieces of our relationship that had never changed, even in the transition from best friends to couple. That was why we worked so well together.

"I figured it would take a little time with us both working real jobs, but soon, 'a little while' turned into a year, and then two years, and nothing ever got better. It was like we were just going through the motions. We weren't growing anymore." She stopped pacing and turned around to look at me. "I mean, we've been together since high school, Chase, and now we have been out of college for several years, and we're still just dating? If that's all this is ever going to be, then why do it anymore? If you don't want to spend the rest of your life with me, we need to move on. I want to get married and have a family one day, and for many years, I thought I'd be doing that with you, but if that's not what you want, then I have to move on so I can find a guy who does want that."

Her big brown eyes were boring holes in my chest, and her words were breaking my heart. How had I messed up so bad that she thought I didn't want to be with her forever? I finally set my mug down on the breakfast bar and walked over to her.

"Baby, all I've ever wanted, since I crashed my bike into that flag pole, was to spend the rest of my life loving you and making you smile. Obviously, I haven't always done a great job at the second part, but I promise you there hasn't been a single day since I was 13 that I haven't loved you. Including the last six months that I haven't seen you. And especially today, when I thought I may have lost you forever."

"Then why didn't you try to stop me six months ago?" She stepped back a little and threw her hands into the air. "Why haven't you called me more over the last six months? It's been radio silence for months, with only a little static before that. If you loved me, why didn't you say something the last time I was here, instead of just letting me walk away?" Her eyes were starting to shine a little, but she wouldn't let a tear fall just yet. She was too proud for that.

With a shaky voice, I tried to answer all of her questions with one sentence. "Because it was what you said you wanted."

I left her standing there in my living room while I walked back into the bedroom. I went straight to the table on my side of the bed—she hadn't slept there in months, but I still thought of the bed in terms of my side and her side—and opened the drawer. At the very back, hidden unless you knew it was there, was a small round box covered in black velveteen. I removed it from its resting place for the first time in years and returned to where Zoey was standing with her arms crossed.

"Clearly, I've messed up somewhere in this relationship if you believed, even for a moment, that I didn't love you anymore. Or that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with you. Do you remember the day Michael and Logan ambushed me in our dorm at PCA, and you heard me confess my feelings for you over the webcam while you were in England?"

With a look that said "get to the point, Fuzzyhead," Zoey just nodded.

"When you told me you heard that, I replayed everything I had said in my mind and since then, I've never been able to forget it. I said, 'I was in love with Zoey before I hit the ground, and I don't think that feeling's ever gonna go away.'"

She smiled, just a little, but whether she was remembering that first day at the flagpole or my confession, I wasn't sure. So I continued.

"Big words for a 15 year old. But I assure you, even now, more than a decade later, the way I felt about you the day I hit that flagpole, the way I felt about you when I transferred to England to be with you, the way I felt about you the first time we kissed…that is exactly how I feel about you now. I am totally and completely in love with you, Zoey Brooks, and I always will be, no matter what you say or do. You are my soulmate."

She took in a deep breath and I noticed a couple tears rolling down her cheeks. It was time to prove that I had never stopped loving her. I finally revealed the box in my hand.

"I bought this the day you signed the lease on your boutique." Zoey gasped and my heart smiled at her surprise. "I hadn't decided when I was going to give it to you, but I knew one day I would need it. So I wanted to be prepared. The day I got the call about Moody's Point, I figured it was finally time. Maybe past time. I called Michael and we started working out a plan for the best surprise in the history of the world. But that plan fell apart the day you came here and asked to take a break."

I looked at her tear stained face and fell in love with her beauty for probably the millionth time since I had met her. I put the box on the breakfast bar, then stepped forward to take her hands in mine.

"Obviously, this isn't the right time to propose, so I'm not going to give you that box now. But I wanted you to know that a future with you, where we raise a family and grow old together, has always been my plan, Zo. And if you'll give me another chance to try this again, I promise I won't wait another 10 years to ask you."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is - the last chapter! Let's goooooooooo!

**_Zoey POV_ **

By the time Chase finished talking, we were both crying. He was standing right in front of me, holding my hands and searching my face for a response. I just looked up at him with tears in my eyes and a small smile on my face, and nodded.

"Ok."

I don't think it was lost on either of us that I responded the same way he had so many months before, standing in the same room, practically the same spot, when I had asked to take a break.

"We can try this again. But we have to get better at communicating if we want to make this work this time. We've always been able to tell each other everything. That can't change now."

He chuckled a little and nodded his head in agreement.

"Trust me," he said. "I learned my lesson about keeping secrets from you back at PCA. With the exception of that little box right there," he said, nodding to the black box on the counter, "I haven't kept anything else from you since high school."

"I can't believe you've had that for years and still haven't asked me." I shook my head slowly and stared at him in disbelief.

"Zoey, we were 22 when I bought that. Are you telling me you wouldn't have thought I was crazy if I proposed to you right out of college?"

The man had a point.

"Well…" I began. Then we both started laughing. After a minute or so, the laughter subsided and we both tried to catch our breath.

"Chase?" I asked.

"Yeah, Zo?"

"I never stopped loving you, you know? I asked for a break so I could work on the collection and gather my thoughts. I thought it might be beneficial for us, in the long run. But it had nothing to do with the way I felt, and still feel, about you."

I looked into those green eyes I loved so much, and he wrapped his arms around me. It felt just like being home.

"And I will never stop loving you," he said, with a soft kiss to the top of my head. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes.

Yes, this was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there it is! If you've made it this far, I hope you enjoyed it! Please, please, please let me know what you thought! Thanks so much! :)


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